Jim Nolan is approached by a man named Harry Nilson who solicits his membership in the Party, a union of fruit-workers on strike in California. During his initiation, Jim earns the respect of local party organizer, Mac "Doc" McLeod. He tells Jim that they're scheming to recruit workers to oppose the Growers' Association in the Torgas Valley in the hopes that the movement will catch on and spread to other commodities like cotton in nearby Tandale. Doc's vision is to dominate the California landscape with unionization in order to humble the landowners and accomplish decisive changes across the board for migrant workers.
A beloved local man named Dan falls off a ladder at work one day and is severely injured. Despite being hurt on the owner's property, Dan is refused medical assistance or any compensation. This single event inspires people to rally around the Party because Dan is much beloved in the community. As support grows, Doc arranges a deal with a fellow Alfred Anderson's father, Al, who owns some land and an apple orchard. The party is allowed to organize on Al's property in exchange for picking his apples free of charge. In this way the Party members -- called fruit tramps -- establish a headquarters. Although, as a whole, the group is not welcome in the community, they maintain their legitimacy by taking pains to follow government regulations, even hiring Doc Burton to preserve sanitation at the camp.
Jim is tasked to accompany another Party member, Sam, in chasing off some scabs from the orchard. Although Sam does send the men away, he accomplishes the task with enough violence to endanger everyone. Jim is shot in the leg but returns to camp and is nursed back to health. Tension is growing in the community. Not long afterward, the pickers' leader, Dakin, is ambushed by local opposition and abused on the roadside. When police arrive, they scare Dakin off from restitution. For his part, Dakin is far from well-behaved, damaging the Party's reputation at large. In response, Doc orders everyone to attend and make a grand, symbolic affair of Joy's funeral. He had been a longtime proponent of workers' rights who was brutally murdered by scabs. His death becomes the renewed life force of the movement.
